Satyr
"I wish the entire human race had one neck, and I had my hands on it." :- Silenus Trentini, Satyr Tactical Analysis *'Incubus': The Satyr acts as the Syndicate infiltrator. Rather than sneaky disguises, ninja skills, or charm, Satyrs simply burst in the front door, kill everyone inside, and steal or destroy everything until they are (nearly always fatally) stopped. *'Unhinged and Unleashed': While a normal person may be concerned with catapulting themselves high into the air with flimsy springs, Satyrs have no such inhibitions. Their legs have spring-based prosthetics, allowing them to leap large distances with ease and bypass obstacles in their way. Even worse, Satyrs are crazy enough to try to jump onto passing aircraft, with a surprisingly high rate of success. These aircraft usually end up plunging to the ground in pieces, though the Satyrs can be shot off by anti-air weaponry. *'Life Hanging Off a Thread': As well as this, Satyrs are equipped with monowire to attack enemies. This wire, nearly a single atom in diameter, can cut through diamond without resistance; the horrific and instantly lethal effects of these weapons on infantry is something best left to the imagination. *'Sanity is for the Weak': Some Satyrs have been fitted with implants that broadcast their mental state to nearby infantry and battlesuits. This allows them to benefit from the Satyr's lack of inhibition, though the potential dangers of such a device mean that they haven't become standard yet. Operational History When a National Geographic team was allowed to explore a Sprawl for an article for the magazine, they were given a Helios Security escort to take care of any legal niceties. Mostly they kept away drug addicts and riff raff, without any real concern for their safety. But when a photographer took a picture of a man in the shadows of a crumbling alley, who had curious shoes that seemed to be based on springs and what seemed to be wires hanging from his wrists, the Helios turned white with terror. Immediately they fired their guns at him. Instead of falling down, the man let out a vaguely pleasured howl of pain as he literally jumped over the building behind him. When asked what happened, a Helios officer famously quipped, “Don’t ask; you’ll sleep better.” The Mediterranean Syndicate’s new assassins and wilderness skirmishers, called Satyrs, were well armed, to be sure. With monomolecular implants, they could dice an enemy in under a second. They could also leap across great distances thanks to specialized footwear. But it wasn’t enough for the company training them, Wilderness Solutions. In trials they had an unacceptable loss rate. Analysis showed that too many times split second fears meant death at the hands of long range fire. In order to rectify this problem, the assassins were given special, irreversible surgery in the part of their brain dealing with inhibitions. The next day policing Legionnaires responded to a complaint that Wilderness Solutions hadn’t opened their doors. Forcing them open, the Legionnaires were confronted with sections of the staff, strewn across the ground along with unidentified fluids, all leading to a hole that had been sliced open. It is thought the Satyrs woke up from post-op, and the staff died seconds later. The following week, Legion Security noted an unprecedented spike of murders, rape, and substance theft unlike anything in Syndicate history. It was considered significant enough to bring in squads of Centurions to restore the status quo. Then Praetorians were brought in when too many Centurions were dying, left in bloodied piles, sometimes in grotesquely humorous poses. Each hour was accompanied by a hideous laughter that echoed through the neon maze. One by one, each assassin was hunted down, and the truth was revealed to the Syndicate. Captured Satyrs were sedated and studied. It was found out that all inhibitions were gone, and now almost every act gave them pleasure, though the more primal and visceral ones gave the most. If the Satyrs wanted to do something, they simply did it, without regards to safety or morality. Many normally amoral executives wanted to shut the program down, but others saw the inherent value, if they could only be trained. Training turned out to be impossible; the Satyrs seemed to enjoy any punishment inflicted on them. Attempts to make them placid by injecting them with nauseating drugs while showing footage of violent acts against Syndicate members also failed, as the Satyrs literally could not make the link in their mind. Instead, they are now merely contained, fulfilling the niche they were designed for. They are also used to infiltrate enemy buildings, killing all inside and caking the halls inside with blood to be found by replacement crews who come to man the empty structure. In order to ensure their cooperation (as it is), they are now allowed free reign of the Sprawls if they do not attack Syndicate personnel in battle. Times when Satyrs are between battles are called a “Bacchanalia” in the Sprawl, where locking the door is no safety if the Satyrs want what you have, whether drugs, your daughter, or your blood. Just the Stats Category:Units